Zion Williamson: New Orleans Pelicans star underwent surgery to repair fractured right foot in offseason

Scott Rafferty

Zion Williamson: New Orleans Pelicans star underwent surgery to repair fractured right foot in offseason image

Zion Williamson underwent surgery to repair a fractured right foot this offseason, New Orleans Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin revealed at media day.

According to Griffin, Williamson suffered the injury prior to Summer League. The Pelicans are hopeful that his timeline "should get him back on the court in time for the regular season." New Orleans opens its regular season with a matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers on Oct. 20.

The No. 1 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Williamson was limited to 24 games in his rookie season after he underwent surgery to repair a torn right lateral meniscus. He then played in 61 of a possible 72 games last season.

With averages of 27.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists on 61.1 percent shooting from the field, Williamson earned the first All-Star selection of his career in 2020-21.

The Pelicans had an active offseason, turning Steven Adams, Eric Bledsoe and Lonzo Ball into Jonas Valanciunas, Garrett Temple, Tomas Satoransky and Devonte' Graham.

New Orleans is looking to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2017-18 this season.

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Scott Rafferty

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Scott Rafferty is an experienced NBA journalist who first started writing for The Sporting News in 2017. There are few things he appreciates more than a Nikola Jokic no-look pass, Klay Thompson heat check or Giannis Antetokounmpo eurostep. He's a member of the NBA Global team.